Free Republic

The New York Times’ recent report about his government’s responsibility for the worst corruption scandal in Ukraine’s history suggests that the walls are closing in and his foreign media allies are jumping ship out of desperation to retain some of their credibility after years of deifying him. It was earlier assessed that “Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Investigation Is Turning Into A Rolling Coup” after it took down Zelensky’s grey cardinal Andrey Yermak, consequently weakened the already shaky alliance keeping him in power, and thus placed more pressure upon him to cede Donbass. The latest development concerns the New York Times’ (NYT) report...

President Trump on Monday signed an executive order designating fentanyl as a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD). Last month, it was reported by the Wall Street Journal that the Trump Administration classified fentanyl as a “potential chemical weapons threat” being smuggled on Venezuelan drug boats to justify strikes in the Caribbean and Western Pacific. Now, with Trump’s new classification of the deadly poison as a WMD, this will likely be used to justify the defense of America against drug cartels further. “The manufacture and distribution of fentanyl, primarily performed by organized criminal networks, threatens our national security and fuels lawlessness...

If there is going to be peace, why are we witnessing the largest military buildup in Europe since the end of the Cold War? When it comes to the major players on the geopolitical stage, it is far more important to watch what they do than it is to listen to what they say. And right now the actions that the major European powers are taking are telling us that they are preparing for a huge war with Russia. Ukraine was supposed to be the final piece of the puzzle for the European Union. It is an enormous chunk of...

We have reached one of the most critical turning points in modern history, but most people don’t seem to understand this. Without a doubt, 2025 has been a year of war. There has been war in Ukraine, war in Iran, war in Gaza, and lots of other regional conflicts as well. But as I have been warning my readers, 2026 could potentially be far worse. Decisions that world leaders make during the months ahead will determine which way things go. Let us hope that they make their choices wisely. According to CNN, White House officials are coming up with plans...

To order the killing of people shipwrecked is clearly illegal according to military justice, according to our own military laws. If our pilots have to eject from a plane, we show that we don’t shoot people. We don’t shoot pilots that are descending by parachute. If we blow up a boat and there are survivors we don’t shoot those people. We don’t sidle up in a boat and take a nine millimeter pistol out, put it to their head and shoot them. Nobody would do that.” “But just because the missiles come from a long distance doesn’t make it any...

Layoffs have hit American workers hard in 2025, particularly in the government and tech sectors. Already this year, well over a million jobs have been lost due to layoffs—and unfortunately, it doesn’t look like a cessation of job cuts is on the horizon. Reports say that beverage and snack giant PepsiCo is the latest major American company getting ready to announce layoffs. Here’s what you need to know. What’s happened? On Monday, PepsiCo (Nasdaq: PEP) issued a memorandum about its intention to enhance shareholder value in 2026.

Zelenskyy Compromises – He Is Ready to Hold Elections... But Under Certain Conditions🤝 MS2025.12.10

With the War in Ukraine now approaching its fifth year and possibly reaching a climatic stage, it’s timely to offer an overview of the situation. This overview has three vectors – the situation on the battlefield, the corruption scandal rocking Kyiv, and the prospects for the success of the Trump peace plan. The thread that connects these three vectors is the role of the Russian Federation and specter of Vladimir Putin. Let’s look at these vectors separately and then unify them in the end. On The Ground The situation on the battlefield is straightforward. Russia is winning the war decisively...

When Ukraine set its sights on NATO and later the European Union, many expected Europe to respond with conviction and purpose. Instead, what emerged was a patchwork of shortterm fixes, hesitant commitments, and political squabbles—a portrait of a continent reacting to history rather than shaping it. Europe entered the conflict improvising, not strategizing. What was framed as solidarity has too often become a cascade of costly, shortsighted decisions that drain wealth, fracture unity, and expose the EU’s lack of direction. Today, the European Union wrestles with economic fatigue and political discord. Member states remain divided over how long support for...

It has been a rough week for everyone in Kiev.Electricity is available only intermittently. Most nights there is a drone or missile strike. And the weather is gloomy and overcast.For president Volodymyr Zelensky, it has been particularly unpleasant. In the past seven days he has lost his chief of staff, the Russians claimed to have taken the strategic city of Pokrovsk, and the Americans have stepped up demands that he make humiliating territorial concessions to buy peace.On Tuesday morning, opposition MPs in Ukraine’s parliament mobbed the speaker’s chair to block Zelensky’s proposed budget and demand the government resign.The reality is...

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Monday that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the second, follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean in September following a bombshell Washington Post report that claimed he ordered the military to “kill everybody.” Leavitt told reporters at the White House press briefing that Hegseth authorized Adm. Frank Bradley to carry out the second strike, which reportedly killed two people who were hanging onto the burning vessel after an initial strike. “President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially designated narco-terrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting...

[snip] On today's CNN This Morning, host Audie Cornish approvingly cited Andrew C. McCarthy of National Review, apropos the reported second strike on a narco boat that was allegedly intended to kill two survivors of the first strike. Wrote McCarthy, a former Assistant United States Attorney: "If this happened as described in the Post report, it was, at best, a war crime under federal law."Here's a suggestion: what if Audie were to occasionally cite National Review when, as it normally does, it makes the case in opposition to the liberal talking point o' the day? Get the rest of the...

Last week’s surprise release of a draft Ukraine war peace plan has raised hopes that the nearly three-year bloody conflict may finally come to an end. Ukraine has suffered horrible losses that may change the demographics of that country for decades to come. If this peace plan can be negotiated in a way that satisfies all sides and the guns finally go silent, I will be the first to cheer. However, the continued failure to understand the nature and origin of the current conflict leaves me skeptical that a real peace can be reached this way. From the Orange Revolution...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday said that the airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela should be considered as “closed in its entirety,” an assertion that raised more questions about the U.S. pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. His government accused Trump of making a ”colonial threat” and seeking to undermine the South American country’s sovereignty.The White House did not respond to questions about what Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, and it was unclear whether he was announcing a new policy or simply reinforcing the messaging around his campaign against Maduro, which has involved...

Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have opened nearly 290,000 criminal cases related to unauthorized absence from military duty and desertion since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Prosecutor General’s Office told the Ukrainska Pravda news outlet on Oct. 14. From January 2022 to September 2025, investigators registered 235,646 cases of unauthorized absence from service and 53,954 cases of desertion. This is a sharp increase compared to the same period between January 2022 and September 2024, when approximately 90,000 cases were recorded — around 60,000 for unauthorized absence and 30,000 for desertion.

President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that the United States is preparing to take new action against alleged drug trafficking networks in Venezuela, telling service members during a Thanksgiving call that efforts for strikes on land will be starting “very soon.” “In recent weeks, you’ve been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many. Of course, there aren’t too many coming in by sea anymore,” Trump told service members in the call. “You probably noticed that people aren’t wanting to be delivering by sea, and we’ll be starting to stop them by land also,” the president continued. “The...

As the US Navy remains primed for action in the Southern Caribbean, Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro prepares for what could be an American attempt to remove him. And as President Trump alternates between calling Maduro on the phone and authorizing air strikes, a bevy of misinformation is being peddled by public figures with an agenda. There are so many claims and counter-claims on the air waves right now that it’s difficult to separate fact from fiction. A sizable chunk of this disinformation is of course being sold by Maduro himself, a man who has learned from his predecessor and mentor,...

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union lawmakers voted on Tuesday to deepen integration of the bloc’s defense industry with Ukraine as a U.S. peace plan remains in flux and Russia’s unconventional warfare operations rattle the 27-nation bloc. European Parliament legislators voted 457-148, with 33 abstentions, to approve a 1.5-billion euro ($1.7 billion) program, with 300 million euros ($345 million) slated for the Ukraine Support Instrument. Raphaël Glucksmann, an EU lawmaker from France’s S&D party, said that the defense program “will enable us to build a more resilient and sovereign Europe” through partnering with Ukraine to build a cutting-edge military industrial complex....

Across party lines, big majorities say the administration needs to explain what the U.S. intends regarding any action, and that it has not done so clearly yet.

The problem is Moscow doesn’t want peace in Ukraine, it wants Ukraine in pieces. Every time the White House offers an olive branch, the Kremlin torches it and commits more heinous war crimes. Washington floated a leaders’ summit in October, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov wiped his shoes with it, demanding Ukraine stop resisting and the West ignore kidnapped kids and beheaded prisoners. Well, Trump pulled the plug on Budapest, signaling he might punish the Kremlin, and a panicking Vladimir Putin dispatched Kirill Dmitriev with a “peace plan” so absurd it would shame a mid-level propagandist. To make sure...